IFI Interior
Architecture / Design
Education Policy(IFI IA/DEP)

About

The International Federation of Interior Architects/Designers Education Policy (IFI IA/DEP) Review 2019 is an initiative to examine and formulate, through global consultation, an updated and progressive education policy statement for IFI.  This timely project intends to generate a comprehensive, future-focused and globally relevant Interior Architecture/Design Education Policy that will be further employed as the basis for evaluation of future curricula and accreditation of Interior Architecture/Design education programs worldwide.

This initiative is organized by a special international taskforce, led by Co-Chairs IFI President-Elect Titi Ogufere and Professors Joanne Cys and Suzie Attiwill, with input of the IFI Executive Board and extended IFI global community.

The IFI Interior Architecture/Design Education Policy will outline IFI’s global quality standards for, and expectations of, Interior Architecture/Design education. Acknowledging the diversity of regional and institutional contexts within which Interior Architecture/Design programs are offered, the document intends to be sufficiently comprehensive, flexible and relevant for a range of users in different global settings. It will assist those responsible for the design, review and delivery of Interior Architecture/Design education programs, to enable their preparation and curricula to contribute to the quality and rigour of Interior Architecture/Design professional practice. Once finalized, the document will be reviewed on a regular basis to ensure it continues to reflect and anticipate global directions and aspirations for the profession.

Global Education Policy Survey

Thank you to all those that contributed to the IFI IA/DEP Survey in 2019. The survey is now closed. 

The outcomes of the survey were reviewed by the taskforce and tabled at a workshop held during the IFI General Assembly in February 2020. From this workshop, a draft IFI IA/D Global Education Policy will be tabled for endorsement. Please see below for more details. 

Insights from the survey:

• Most participants see a global design education policy as an opportunity to encourage the continual advancement of the discipline and to set out global professional objectives and guidelines.
• 48% see the purpose of an education policy as a way to create an overarching discipline position statement.
• The policy will help to delineate an educational overview of the Interior Architecture/Design discipline, one that is inclusive of the articulation of the profession’s future ambitions, global concerns and collective influence.

IFI IA/DEP Review Taskforce Members

Top Row (left to right): Titi Ogufere (Co-Chair, Nigeria); Joanne Cys (Co-Chair, Australia); Suzie Attiwill (Co-Chair, Australia); Gerhard Bruyns (Hong Kong)

Second Row (left to right): Osman Demirbas (Turkey); Joseph Friedman (Israel); Paul Kerlaff (UK); Zakkiya Khan (South Africa)

Third Row (left to right): Maria Cecillia Loschiavo dos Santos (Brazil); Sebastiano Raneri (Italy); Maria Eugenia Santos Mercado (Mexico); Tüüne-Kristin Vaikla (Estonia)

Bottom Row (left to right): Wen-Liang Chen (Chinese Taipei); Amy Campos (USA); Thomas Kong (Singapore); Lois Weinthal (Canada)

Global Education Policy Workshop

On 27 February 2020, members of the worldwide Interiors discipline took part in a collaborative workshop to discuss and further develop the IFI IA/D Global Education Policy. Structured to culminate at the 2020 IFI General Assembly in Dubai, the program bought together invited participants from 26 countries and representing 6 continents, to discuss the Federation’s global quality standards for, and expectations of, Interior Architecture/Design education for today into tomorrow.

Following introductions and presentation of results from IFI’s IA/DEP 2019 global survey, participants worked together in rotating groups to debate the role, value and position of the policy; providing valuable, diverse insights to ensure a sufficiently comprehensive and globally relevant outcome.

IFI IA/D EP Taskforce Co-Chairs Titi Ogufere, Jo Cys and Dr. Suzie Attiwill, in consultation with Taskforce members, are working to incorporate outcomes of the workshop into a draft IFI IA/D Global Education Policy, which will be tabled for IFI member endorsement in 2020. 

IFI wishes to thank all those who attended the workshop. Your participation will help shape the direction, content and function of the policy as a document with the potential to inform the discipline globally, and we look forward to sharing the final policy with you soon.